To Our Readers, Mar. 20, 1995

A LIST OF LARA MARLOWE'S DATELINES since she joined TIME in 1989 reads like a gazetteer of the globe's hot spots: Kuwait, Iraq, Bosnia, the Gaza Strip, Azerbaijan, Somalia, Zaire and, for the sixth time, Algeria. Her story this week on the fierce struggle between the Islamic fundamentalists and the Algerian government is a rare and gripping look at a nation many feel is the most dangerous in the world, especially for Westerners.

In Algeria, says Marlowe, "you're not worried about artillery shells or snipers but about the guy who might shoot you point blank or slash your throat while you're...